We have been super busy bees in the office this week as 2015 departures are getting closer and closer! And plans are getting put in place for those of you travelling in 2016 and we are still processing some of your applications.

This particular Fundraising Friday Star has almost become my email pen pal! We have regular catch-ups and pretty much talk about anything.

In the football match, the refferee whistled for the start of the game. The teams begin to kick the ball and challenge each other to get the goal. For my Cambodia team, the first day of the year is the start of our game. We are committing to work harder and the challenging the result in 2014 is our goal. We are working together with all volunteers from around the world on numbers of projects to develop our poor community. The photos below are the evidence about our project works from our groups of volunteers in the beginning of 2015.

I’ve been feeling rather ‘off’ this week, no other way to describe it really! Not quite unwell, but I wasn’t really fully functioning! However, today I am most definitely feeling better and I’m back to my old, rather annoying, self.

It may have something to do with sleeping through yesterday, but it might also be because I received this amazing Fundraising story and I was inspired! Meet this week’s star, Alice, and read her story!

The week was fully loaded with plastering and playing with Kids, just like any other week, we enjoyed walking and working along with local children. Plastering the Muhaka Islamic school library, has been our main project and glad we can see it getting better every day. Indeed, it is a hard and challenging task (understanding the ratio between sand and cement then mixing with water and sticky it on the wall) each day we find our self-getting stronger and we always meet the project target set for the day.

My first visit to Beng Mealea was in 1999. I saw the local people had a very hard living. The children were studying under the tree; finding the foods in the muddy field; working under the very hot sun; skinny and unhealthy looking. I was feeling so guilty to see these and I have thought about the possible helps for them in the future. Two years later, the proper access road was built and the foreign aids have been brought into the village. But, the demands have not been completed yet until now.

The word ‘ecotourism’ is thrown around a lot in this day and age. Companies tend to focus on helping their customers get a ‘volunteer experience’ but they don’t really delve deep into the problems in the areas they work in. The projects are short-lived, and only exist as long as the tourists are in the area. These projects then get abandoned; the tourists get to see the culture but don’t really experience it. It doesn’t have that same affect as when you get to meet new people and get that chance for cultural exchange.

It’s Friday the 13th, and though I’m not one to believe in luck (being the most unlucky person on the planet), there was definitely nothing unlucky about receiving a submission for a Fundraising Friday Star from a rather lovely mum for her very hardworking daughter!

So this week, we have a parent’s perspective of fundraising, and why it can be useful!

Last year December 2014 we're lucky to host a group of family in one of our Tanzania Camps.The group had prepared to spend the festive season giving back to the community through our community project work.They all had a great experience and loved every single bit of their stay.Below is a testimonial story; long but worthy reading it ........

For those of you heading out this year, we are currently snowed under by copies of your passports and PADI forms. But YAY, massive thank you to all of you who have sent these through so far. If you are travelling in 2015 and haven’t sent through a passport copy yet, please do so as soon as you can! For those of you travelling in 2016, it has been amazing to hear from you, and your payments are flying in, just a reminder that you can pay whenever you raise money.